we are having some gorgeous days here in the Bay Area after all those yukky storms. It looks like July outside (of course it's still cold - but the afternoons have been in the 60s lately). On the kitty front, they are getting along better but no snuggling - YET.

JC - are you doing the Lean Legs for Women workout from Brother Iron Sister Steel? I have just started that myself. Squats three times a week - ouchies!!! Since it's a Monday/Weds/Fri split, I'm adding in an upper body workout on Tuesday and cardio on Tues/Thurs/Sat (with optional cardio on Sunday). You get Dr. Phil in Oz as well? His show is very popular here, we've watched it a couple of times (however Jim usually turns on music videos after Seinfeld).

And as far as your sister not noticing your transformation...well...she probably DID notice but just didn't say anything (there's a lot of people like that!) I don't know if it's jealousy or just not thinking...I am so jealous that you all are having beach weather right now - can't wait for Miami in about 3 weeks...fun and sun!!!

I read BodyRX myself earlier last year and just decided that it really wasn't what I wanted to do - but still have the book in case I change my mind

Lana - great photo! you look so cute!

Sweetchick - whaddya mean ONLY 25-30 pounds? Jeez - I probably didn't lose more than 15 scale-weight pounds since April 2001 - but went down from a size 10 to a size 4. I've said it before - concentrate on the Pants-O-Meter and get rid of the scale (or at least don't rely on it).

Carrie - Mel is right on - patience and persistence are the keys on BFL (along with planning that is). This isn't a quick weight loss fad diet thingy - just keep at it and commit to the 12 weeks and you will be soooo happy!

OH and at L&S - Tall Jen is back with her daily menu thread. Newbies - I really recommend that you check it out - feel free to post your menu for critique and helpful tips. Looking at other folks' menus is also a great way to get some new menu ideas!

hello,
ood mornin, I am on day 1 of BFl, and I am hurting, I went into the weiht trainin upper body thinkin that I could still bench 70 pounds, I had to drop it down to 40, then to 20, it hurt I went slow as the book states, I am however satisfied with the meals, so I am doing well, however my husband is starving, I may need to ive him a little more food, or slihtly bigger portions. My before pictures are hideous, they are awful, I look disgusting, I took polaroids, and 35 mm, My hubby is skinny, he weighs 173, I never cook, and I weigh 195, eating too much junk. Oh well he is in for it, when he comes home from work, I am gonna get him to workout, he will see how hard it is. Oh well. thanks for listening.

We are having cold but sunny weather here too. Sorry for all you snowbound folks, though a good snow would be welcome here for "short duration only!"

JC, thanks for asking about free week. I don't think I handled it great, but the good thing is that as soon as it was over I got right back on the program. I am noticing on free day as well that I have not worked out my eating issues. Thankfully the structure of BFL seems to hold whatever that elusive demon is in check. I have been doing some serious thinking about all this and think that I will "plan" my free day this coming week. I will have treats, but not a free roaming free day. Maybe this will help.

Differences I am feeling? Hmmm, I do feel different. My body composition has changed. My upperbody feels hard even when I am not holding a flex. Clothes fit much better. My body just looks different, it is starting to show in my face a bit. I weigh about the same as at the end of challenge 1, maybe up a lb. or two but I have quickly lost what I gained during those 10 days off. I am not hopping on the scale quite as often. I think it will take me a couple weeks into this challenge to be geared for serious losing again.

Welcome to all the newbies, there are so many questions right at first. These gals are great sources of information. I found the first workouts, the first week of menus the hardest. Then I started to fall into a routine as I gained more knowledge. I still go to and learn something new every day at L&S. Figuring out what to eat, even though I knew the requirements helped a lot. Embracing cottage cheese came after about the first month and it remains a favorite staple. I had to get my workout equipment all lined out and buy a couple of cooking utensils to enable me to get my meals just right. After a while it becomes second nature though.

Karen, I can tell you are a persistent kitty mama. You'll have those 2 lined out in no time!

I really can't believe that this is the last week of my first challenge....amazing...i can't believe i have made it. This is the first time i have really started dieting seriously....and its working...which is soooooooo wonderful.

Thanks Lanaii, Jennelle, Ledom, and Mrs. Jim and everyone else who has encouraged me over the 12 weeks. its so great. I really feel so good, lighter, smaller and best of all STRONGER!!!

I can't wait to go to my field hockey team and play tennis this spring and summer and be sooooo much stronger...

well...i guess if i have made it this far i can make it through the next 5 days!!

take care everyone!!

one_sweetchick

__________________
"I didn't ask to be a princess, but if the crown fits."

Karen: Yes I am doing Lean legs with a little modification. I took out the upper body work and just do the lower work with abs if I feel like it. I do that on Monday and thursday, with tuesday and friday split with the rest of the upper body (back, bis & abs on Tues and shoulder, chest & tris on Friday) Then after the Tuesday upper I do 20MAS and then on Friday I do a set of 7-8 sprints (60 secs sprint then 60 secs walk). I play soccer on Wednesday so no workout and then the weekends are totally free! I have to admit I love the extra soreness in my legs and those Sumo squats are killers! As for diet, well I made a major change there after reading a book but I wanted to test it out for 6 weeks before I divulged any info.

I get Dr Phil but it is to early for me to watch normally. Occassionally I see it at the gym in the afternoon but since I swapped to morning workouts I haven't seen it.

wanttobebuff: If your hubby is starving and skinny then feed that boy!! He will need to eat more than you ESPECIALLY if he wants to build muscle. I have the opposite problem - it's hard to get my hubby to eat enough and he is lean and has a super fast metabolism. I always nag him about eating too little and that he needs to beef up more!

Ledom: You aren't meant to handle free week well that's why they call it free. don't beat yourself up about it sweety. As for planning free day - maybe you could try eating what you want but in smaller portions throughout the day??

OSC: Congratulations for coming this far! You must let us know your results as soon as you finish - feel free to BRAG!!

As for me well everything is going very well at the moment. I had a great workout this morning and hubby came along for the ride as well. The break has done me well because in my sprints today I sprinted faster than I ever have before. I hit 9 MPH for my sprints and it didn't kill me! Food is going great although my skin is breaking out again from the shift in diet which isn't pleasant. I have had a few late nights so I think that I may hit the sack early tonight. As some of you are aware I am sitting on my current fat setpoint and trying to break through one **** of a plateau so I want to be extra careful about everything that I do.

Great poem JC! (MY mom always sends me Bible verses and passages from the "Mitford" books which I actually turned her on to in the first place...)

In San Francisco "Dr Phil" comes on at 8:00 pm - right after "Seinfeld" but we either watch music videos or a film.

OOOH now you have me all intrigued with your mysterious 6 week diet program!!! All you have to say is 'I'm keeping it a secret' and of course I'm DYING to find out now I thought you were planning on starting CPB again...

Did I mention that JIM is now working out?!? Yesterday (Sunday) we went to the gym here at work and I did some moderate cardio while watching Jim - who did NOT want any help - do his upper body workout. He prefers to use machines...oh well at least he's doing SOMEthing. At one point he was doing what I think were dumbbell flyes, only his arms were straight out, he was lying on the bench and he would hyperextend his arms all the way to the floor. Can you say "rotator cuff injury"? He also did 30 minutes brisk walking on the treadmill...

ANYway, on our way home I couldn't resist telling him that he was doing flyes ALL WRONG and he said "but I like to feel the stretch!" I told him, Hon, if you keep doin' flyes like that, you'll be having the CHIROPRACTOR stretching you!

Ledom - Something that has worked for me in the past - during the 'regular week', if any food item tempts you, WRITE IT DOWN. I have a note-pad on my fridge door where I would write down the foods I wanted. That way, when your Free Day rolls 'round, you have everything written down (although I betcha you won't want most of it by then).

My D is home from college and we still have this week before we both go back. Since new years she has been trying to shed her holiday lbs. She has really kept me moving because she has managed to talk me into hiking with her on top of my regular workouts most days (figure I could use it after the holiday). Anyway she is also doing a little work w/ 5 lb. dumbells from the Firm book. This a.m. she quizzed me about my training so I am going to watch one of her workouts tomorrow. Love teaching the kid new things. She is almost 19 and has such a cute shape, if she can just learn how to take care of it so it will last she'll be doing great.

It's just different to what I have been doing and radically different to BFL so I don't want to put anyone off by posting it. Plus it's still in testing on myself and I never recommend tweaks until I have tried them personally.

NO you didn't mention that - when did he start? That is so cool! I get annoyed occasionally because hubby only works out for about 30 mins MAX so when I need 45 mins he is hanging around the gym bothering me. Oh and on the flyes - tell him to stretch between sets - form is too imortant to sacrifice. Last time hubby was doing something wrong and I mentioned it he blew his stack - so I gave him a complicated technical explanation for why and he has never questioned me since! (It helps that my biceps are nearly bigger than his as well!)

Ledom: That is great that you are working out with your daughter! I would love to share those experiences with my Mother but she thinks that she is too old for the gym (she's 56) geez......

We've had more snow this year than in the previous 3 and I'm sick of it. I feel like I do a workout just to get to the gym.
Dd left for school on Saturday between storms, so now I'll get a little more sleep, but lost my workout buddy.

My running career has ended abruptly- yesterday I turned my ankle on my "last" long run before the race. Stepped into a hole on the side of the road and gave it a good enough twist that I ended up in the ER thinking it was broken. Just sprained, but kinda purple and painful. Now I can add another wrap for leg day Part of me is relieved I'm not going to run at Disney- that 4:30 am line-up really bothered me. But I am disappointed and annoyed at all that training, then not doing it after all I just hope I can still do a good leg day!

Ledom: Where does your daughter go to school? I love it when mine is at home and we hit the gym together. She lifts ALOT at school for lacrosse team, so is quite buff and turns a lot of heads at the gym. I feel invisible.

Karen: my husband is also workouts out a lot more now But he did ask me for help setting up workouts, and to show him how to do different exercises. He just won't eat right. Not bad, but not great. Won't give up his ice cream or Black Russians. I don't think he eats enough protein, but I have at least talked him into a post-workout balanced meal.

JC: oooh- I'm curious too! I'm still plugging away at pseudo Camp PB nutrition. Nothing seems to change much, tho. My friend Laura who posts as LLS on L&S insists I'm starving and should be eating more to see results. I may listen to her one of these days- she's had spectacular results eating around 1800-2000 calories a day and is much smaller than I am. Pam had me cycling from 900-1700 and those 900 days were dreadful. Loved the poem. My mother sends me articles about diseases.

OSC- Congratulations! You're almost there! And ONLY 25-30 pounds? Pleeese- I'd be jumping for joy (actually I'd be emaciated). Take it from one who gained weight in C1 (and didn't want to), you done great!

Wanttobebuff- Hiya! and welcome.

ok- gotta hobble in to the kitchen, make dinner, make lunches, cook for tommorrow, the try to study about strength!

mel

__________________
Falling down is not failure....Failure is staying down.Save the Earth, it's the only planet with chocolate and wine.

It isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain.

I was cycling low to about 1000 calories and up to about 1500 during my last weeks with Pam. Those low days are a killer. I am not sure if I could go back to doing that again.

I will fill you all in after my first 6 weeks. You know what it's like you need to try something for a while to see how it kicks in. I have cut back on the training to 5 days a week (4 weights & 3 cardio) so I can tell if it's the diet that is working not some other factor. Anyways.....

Oh MEL! I know you were really looking forward to the Disney marathon...are you still going to go anyway?

Hmmm...I didn't tell ya *where* he ate after his workout - we went to Taco Bell so he could get a Grilled Stuft Steak Fajita Burrito - oh well, better than McDonald's I suppose (he's cutting his McD's consumption to once a week now).

I am so sorry about your ankle. Well, remember, you started the running project to get your focus back? Maybe you mission was accomplished even w/out running in the event.

My D goes to the same school where I teach, though she lives on campus. It is in central Arkansas. She takes to working out in spurts and spats. We have marvelous hiking trails in our city so we have always done that together. When she puts on a couple lbs. she works out but otherwise doesn't. I bought her an MP3 player for christmas to encourage her to check out the gym/treadmill that she has available at school free of charge. I think she will actually. Food there is the pits, she is in the dorm and w/ only a small fridge and a communal microwave it is tough. Anyway, anytime she asks for my help I am thrilled. Like so many others I have heard talk about their kids, she really wants me to succeed w/ my weight loss goals and is a great little hiking buddy.

Oh yeah, about being invisible - anytime I am with her I am invisible.

My hubby eats clean but just not enough. The good thing is that he is easy to influence so he eats what I eat when we cook together. This week dinner has been BBQ steak and salad with a bit of cheese on the side. Cooked fresh each night it's delicious!

You guys are awsome,
I just made lunches for tomorrow, and i doubled my DH portion, he likes the protein powder mixed with choc FF /SF pudding, and he likes pinnneapple and cottage cheese too. Here is todays meal plan tell me if I did ok.

That was todays meal, also my arms and upper body hurt bad, was not expectin that on day 1 and i took the whole 46 minutes, I went slow and squeezed. Dh was in for it, he suffered, we went slow, and he is in pain too, it was kool to see his arms shake and the veins pop out of his head, and arms. we had a great day, though he wanted me to wait for him to get home from work, I just feel that if I wait till after 4 pm, I will be less likely to do it. You guys ROCK. Too ashamed to post pictures, but my Bf is off the chart 40mm, or percent I weigh 195. SHHHHHHHHHHH, do not tell. My goal is to et back to 145 like I was when I was in the ARMY. tomorrow will make 1 week quit smoking cold turkey.